There's nothing classier and more New York than attending a Zac Posen fashion show. It was the first show I've ever attended in my six plus year career in beauty and the one show I'll never miss covering backstage beauty. This season, the show was held at the Palace Hotel's Terrace Room. Picture crystal chandeliers lining the runway, intricate paintings on the backstage ceiling, mirrors lining the walls and famous models like Crystal Renn. Artists from John Frieda, MAC and Essie created a look that a complete contradiction from last year.
"There's a lot of construction in the clothes so we wanted to make sure the hair was relaxed," explained Luigi Murenu, John Frieda's Global Creative Consultant. "We wanted to create an art deco, 2013 chignon with volume and personality."
Before drying or in some cases, on dry hair he combed John Frieda Luxurious Volume, Volume Building Mousse through the hair to build up the hairs texture and bring it to life. Once dry, the team began crimping the top of the hair in a "clap, clap, clap" way so the iron didn't leave an imprint on the hair, but just made it look "as if they had more hair." Keeping volume on the top, he flattened out and tightened the sides, sealing them with a serum, and secured a ponytail at the nape of the neck. Separating the pony into two sections, he twisted them around each other and pinned it up into a deconstructed chignon. The key pieces were two side fly aways that were purposely pulled out and crimped to give the look a sense of lightness.
Kabuki, the lead makeup artist for MAC Cosmetics, was inspired by the snow falling outside during the makeup trial and explained how the makeup was "minimal and snowy in the eye, but brought back into the jewel colors of the collection by doing a rich, burgundy stained lip."
The skin was highlighted and eyes were soft, but the lip was special. "The look needed a moment of a strong moment, which brings out the dellicatecy of the eye," Kabuki stated. To create the lip look, he first used Vino Lip Liner to define the outer shape and applied lip balm only to the center of the lips. This prevents the color from spreading. Then, taking a single tissue, he touched it to the lip and put loose powder through it to set the pencil without changing the color. Finally, he applied Lip Mix in Burgundy to the center of the lip and thinned it out as it got closer to the outer corner. "This way, you don't have to worry about color bleeding or running, but you still have the dense coverage in the middle," he concluded.
"When you put a dark lip with a dark nail it keeps it really dramatic and gives it a bit of an edge," comments an Essie manicurist. The shade used was Carri On, which is their darkest aubergine.
